


Your love's gonna save my soul

by Elisexyz



Series: Closer at heart [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baelfire | Neal Cassidy Lives, Character Death Fix, Episode: s03e15 Quiet Minds, F/M, Fix-It, True Love's Kiss, because I say so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-18 18:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16521995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: Great, so his father is still missing.He nods, taking a sharp breath and moving to sit up, because he’d much rathernothave him in that witch’s control for any longer than strictly necessary. “Alright, we need to—”“Woah, woah, ‘we’?” Emma intervenes, looking at him with wide eyes and pushing him back against the mattress with a firm hand on his chest. “There’s nowe. There’syoustayinghere, in this bed, andmecalling my dad to see where I can go to be useful.”





	Your love's gonna save my soul

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the "Confined to bed rest" prompt [on my badthingshappenbingo card on Tumblr](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/180525974054/confined-to-bed-rest-fill-for-the-bad-things).  
>  Yes, I used the classic "True Love's Kiss as a Get Out Of Jail For Free Card". Nope, I'm not sorry.

When he wakes up, the first thing he sees is Emma.

“Neal,” she exhales, looking relieved, if a bit tentative, as she straightens on her seat before leaning closer. “Are you back with us?” she asks, her hand resting on his arm.

Neal blinks a couple of times, his eyes darting around the room to find that he seems to be back at the hospital, with only Emma and Killian – who is standing a few feet behind Emma, looking more than a little relieved himself – for company.

He wonders if he dreamed up everything that went on in the woods, and he sincerely hopes that he _didn’t_ , because he remembers pretty clearly trading his life for his father’s – like a dumbass – back in the Enchanted Forest, and if he never left the hospital that means that they are still one, and that he still has a giant _problem_ in his hands— but he feels like himself, right now. If he’s sharing, he doesn’t realize it.

He raises his right hand, looking for the mark burnt on his palm, but it’s not there.

“It’s gone,” Emma informs him. He turns back towards her to find that she was staring, maybe waiting for him to make eye-contact. “Do you remember what happened?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” he answers, his voice a little hoarse. “I mean, I remember that you separated me and my father, and— shouldn’t I be— you know—?”

“Ah, yes, about that,” Emma says, shifting uncomfortably on her seat. “You were— so I—”

“She kissed you,” Killian mercifully intervenes, rolling his eyes.

Emma turns around, likely to glare at him, whereas Neal merely raises his eyebrows: what is that supposed to mean?

Not that he has a problem with Emma kissing him – except apparently not _remembering_ it –, but—

“On the forehead,” she clarifies, turning back towards him.

Yeah, okay, that’s nice, but it still doesn’t explain—

Then it hits him: he _remembers_. Not only what happened in the woods, but what happened in the last _year_. True Love’s Kisses break curses. Apparently whatever he did at that vault also qualifies, and the other curse was broken too in the process.

For a second, he wonders if this means that Henry remembers him too, but _that_ was another curse entirely, and he figures that— well, if he did remember, he’d probably be there too. His stomach turns unpleasantly.

“Oh,” he finally says, his attention back to Emma. “Damn, Belle was right,” he chuckles, shaking his head a little at the memory of what she said about Emma’s keychain.

“About what?” Emma asks, confused.

Yeah, that was probably _not_ what he was supposed to say.

“Uh, nothing, just— about us—” _Digging the hole deeper, Neal_. “Where’s my father?” he quickly asks, trying to change the subject in the hopes that it will get him to _stop_ grinning already. It’s probably a bit inappropriate and things with Emma are still delicate, he doesn’t want to mess it up a second time by making her feel like he’s _reading_ into things— but damn, True Love’s Kiss. How is he supposed _not_ to rejoice at that?

Emma stares at him questioningly for a few seconds before deciding that she’s in for the change of subject as well. “I’m not sure,” she confesses. “I mean, he said that Zelena has his dagger and that he needed to go back, he said to get you back here and— well, you _still_ looked half-dead, I was a little too distracted to ask any questions.”

Great, so his father is still missing.

He nods, taking a sharp breath and moving to sit up, because he’d much rather _not_ have him in that witch’s control for any longer than strictly necessary. “Alright, we need to—”

“Woah, woah, ‘ _we_ ’?” Emma intervenes, looking at him with wide eyes and pushing him back against the mattress with a firm hand on his chest. “There’s no _we_. There’s _you_ staying _here_ , in this bed, and _me_ calling my dad to see where I can go to be useful.”

Okay, he should have seen that coming. But honestly, he’s feeling fine, just a little disoriented – which is probably to be expected after almost dying _and_ retrieving the memories of a whole year –, he can _go_.

“Emma—” he tries to protest, his tone placating, but she’s having none of it, apparently.

“Don’t ‘Emma’ me!” she protests, forcefully. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you almost _died_ there. No, scratch that, you did the whole dying thing with the tears and the touching clichéd last words, and you are still here by some magical miracle, there’s no way of knowing if there are going to be _consequences_ —”

“Oh, come on,” he tries to protest, but Emma just glares at him.

“This wasn’t a stupid sleeping curse, Neal! You were supposed to be _dead_ by now, you get that? If there are consequences like—like heart failure or bleeding out through your ears like in an horror movie or _anything_ else, I want you to be _here_ , with people that can at least _try_ to keep you alive without stumbling on a dumb miracle by complete chance!”

He’s honestly a little surprised that she’s not literally fuming, and a part of him can’t help feeling a little warmed by how _worried_ she is about him. He’s a little fuzzy on the details about how exactly he died in the woods, but he remembers being in her arms, and the tears in her hears, her voice begging him to hold on— she has told him many times that she still loves him, yet _seeing_ it is always something else, and his stomach twists hopefully.

“I’m sorry about worrying you, but I can help—” he tries, gently, and she snorts.

“You owe me like ten years of my life,” she says. “ _Plus_ the ten you still owe me for your _last_ suicidal stunt. So you are going to help by not giving me anything else to worry about.”

Neal tries to go for a pleading look, which doesn’t earn him anything besides a couple of raised eyebrows, and then he turns to Killian, who has been uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole thing.

“Oh, don’t look at me, mate,” he immediately protests. “I’m with Swan on this one.”

“Yeah, you were supposed to be with me the last time as well,” Emma mutters.

“Trust me, he’s not going anywhere this time,” Killian says, drily, crossing his arms.

Great, no help from that front then.

“Promise you’ll stay here,” Emma says, her attention once again back on him. “ _Neal_. Promise.” She’s trying to make it an _order_ , but he can still see that she’s rattled and implicitly pleading him not to do anything stupid.

It leaves him feeling more than a little guilty, so he nods. “Okay, fine. Promise, I’ll stay here.”

Emma nods, offering a small, relieved smile. “And if I see you around, I _will_ drag you back here this time,” she warns, jokingly, although he wouldn’t be so sure that she wouldn’t _actually_ do it.

“Don’t worry, there’ll be no need,” he assures.

She smiles once again, squeezing his hand. “I’m glad you are okay,” she says, softly, before standing up. He smiles back.

“Belle is on her way here,” Emma announces, as she heads to the door and Killian moves to take her place on the chair next to his bed. “To keep you company.”

“And make sure that I baby-sit right this time,” Killian comments, raising his eyebrows at her.

“You said it, not me,” Emma replies, raising her hands briefly. “Okay, I—I’ll have my phone on, so call me if— you know, if anything happens.”

“Does dying of boredom count?” Neal grins, which earns him an impressive glare. Right. He probably shouldn’t joke about _dying_ just yet. “Sorry, sorry. Don’t worry, just—just go find my dad, yeah?”

“I will,” she assures, with another smile. She hesitates a moment before heading out, but she throws him a last lingering look and then she goes.

Neal leans back against the pillow with a sigh, feeling not at all at ease while he’s letting her go on her own to retrieve his father even though he could very well accompany her. He just hopes that he won’t have to be the one complaining about close calls by the end of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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